An Important Woman on Everett’s Map: Emma Yule

When I went to New Orleans a couple years ago, I looked at the statues of the imposing men on horseback.  These grand statues honored these men, but outside of being well-crafted bronzes, they held no inner spark of inspiration for me. 

In every part of the globe, streets, plazas, buildings, mountain tops, you name it, the vast majority honor men.  These men were soldiers, presidents, war heroes, explorers, rich philanthropists. Some were given permission to be great artists and thinkers.  Most of these men became heroes because they were given opportunities not given to women (or people of color for that matter.)

Emma Yule 1890s

I’m not sure a lot of women would have wanted to shoulder a bayonet on horseback, but surely women were doing other important things.  Why can’t we honor more women with street and park names?

It is necessary to put more diverse names on our maps because it is a healthier and more realistic picture of what our society is now. Other major cities are actively re-naming squares and removing statues to reflect our more enlightened values of inclusion and equity.  Even New Orleans finally took down that statue of Confederate War General Robert E. Lee.

Everett made a big step in this direction by naming the new park on Colby Avenue. “Emma Yule Park”.

As a woman living in Everett, I am thrilled to have Emma Yule Park come to be.  It means the city I live in values women. My city is forward-thinking!

View fullsize

Image courtesy of Everett Parks and Community Services

It’s great to get a hero half the population can identify with, at least on a gender basis.  But Yule delivers an inspirational story of success for everyone.

Emma Yule was Everett’s first hired teacher in its first school in 1891.  She was first principal in 1892 and first female superintendent in 1897. She was in Everett before the city was even incorporated, civilizing this rowdy frontier industrial town.

The dark side of her story is what drove her from Everett:  gender pay inequity, marital status and sexual discrimination.  But even that part of her story had an inspirational ending. Emma Yule traveled the world.  She became a university professor in the Philippines and a published author. Emma Yule persisted! 

Emma Yule circa 1930, maybe late 1920s

Programs she started in Everett schools still exist. Part of her estate went to a University of Washington scholarship for girls.  This is only a fraction of the ripple effect of her decades-old legacy.

Now in 2020, we are celebrating 100 years nationally of Women’s Right to Vote.  Yule was not in the USA for that pivotal moment, but she was one of the women blazing the trail to it. 

It is fitting that Everett now has a Founding Mother on its map – on land that belonged to the school district for a half century. Her name will be high on a hill, overlooking the men of Everett’s landscape: Hewitt, Rockefeller, Colby, Wetmore, etc.  Emma Yule’s recognition was long overdue.

---

Deb Fox is an artist, writer, and historian living in Everett. She wrote and illustrated "Everett Massacre: A Graphic Novel."

---